1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of containers possessing protective coatings for improved impact absorbance and shatter resistance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Olefin-vinyl ester copolymers possess excellent impact absorbing characteristics which have led to their being investigated for use as container coatings, especially for fragile containers such as glass bottles, to improve resistance to shattering. Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers are widely employed as a coating for various substrates and can be applied thereto employing anyone of several known and conventional procedures, e.g., dip coating, powder spraying, electrostatic coating, and the like. However, the tendency of this and many other olefin-vinyl ester copolymer coatings to adhere to each other or exhibit tack has presented a considerable obstacle to the total acceptance of the copolymers in the packaging industry where high, sustained rates of production with minimal disruptions are essential requirements of an economically viable bottle-filling system. U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,985 describes a glass container coated with a uniformly hydrolyzed ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. However, uniformly hydrolyzed olefin-vinyl ester copolymers, while resistant to blocking and demonstrating good lubricity characteristics, are at the same time inferior in impact absorbance to the unhydrolyzed resins from which they are prepared.